Snapshots Through Time
by GrapePudding
Summary: A series of random Ace Attorney drabbles. Genres and characters apply to latest chapter. 6. As the buzz of the telephone filled their ears, they just knew that something was ending. Phoenix and Maya, 100 word drabble.
1. Teardrop

I plan to post anything that I consider too short to be posted as an individual fic in this drabble series. Expect tons of fluff. :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Ace Attorney. I never will. This disclaimer holds true for all further stories in this drabble series.

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><p><span>Teardrop<span>

Phoenix stepped through the threshold of his small apartment, cringing slightly at the noise the worn-down door made. He yawned as he casually twirled his keyring around his finger before shoving it back in his pocket. It had been another long night at the Borscht Bowl Club.

Phoenix chuckled quietly to himself when he found a small figure asleep on the couch. He gently picked his daughter up, taking care not to jostle her. Trucy's face was profoundly peaceful in sleep. He carried her into her bedroom and placed her gingerly on the bed.

He smiled softly as he listened to her light breathing, and was about to turn away when a barely audible whisper stopped him. "Daddy..." For a fleeting instant, Phoenix thought that Trucy had awoken.

Another word slipped through Trucy's lips, although her eyes were still closed in sleep. "Mommy..."

The pain resting in the few syllables Trucy had uttered was subtle, but resoundingly deep. Phoenix watched as a single tear trickled down her cheek.

Very gently, so as not to wake her, Phoenix brushed away the lone teardrop with his thumb. He began lightly stroking her dark brown hair, and his eyes were soft as he stared down at the face of his daughter. For once, he could see Trucy unguarded and vulnerable, and see what was hiding behind her smile.


	2. Birthday

Birthday

_Byrne Faraday returned home from work only to find all the lights switched off._

_"Kay?" he called as he turned on the living room light._

_"SURPRISE!" the young girl yelled as she tackled her father out of nowhere. He caught her in his arms with a startled "Oof!"_

_Byrne chuckled and kissed his daughter on the forehead. "Thanks, Kay. But, um, try not to break Daddy next time you give me a surprise, OK?"_

_Kay giggled. "You're 40 years old today! You're getting easier to break!"_

_Byrne laughed along with her._

_Kay grinned widely and hugged his neck. "Happy Birthday, Daddy!"_

...

Kay Faraday lay sprawled on her small bed. She didn't want to just lie there, waiting for sleep to find her. She wanted to be standing, running, feeling like she was _doing_ something. Moonlight shone through the window and swept over the snowy white sheet of her bed. Kay never lowered the shade of her bedroom window - she liked sleeping in the luminous glow of the night sky.

The seventeen-year-old got up and moved to the open window. She leaned out, her face bathed in moonlight, and breathed in the crisp night air. Kay caught her breath as she took in the beauty of the starry night sky and the brilliantly glowing moon. For a few peaceful heartbeats, Kay remained still and silent, absorbing the night atmosphere. It had been seven years, but still she had not forgotten. How could she ever?

A soft whisper melted into the silent night. "Happy Birthday, Daddy."


	3. Someone to Catch You

Someone to Catch You

Phoenix Wright couldn't believe what he had gotten himself into. Him, a father? He could barely remember to water Charley the potted plant every day, let alone keep track of the well-being of another person. Furthermore, he was in no shape to take care of a daughter when he didn't even feel up to the task of taking care of himself. What had made him do it? What had made him think of the little girl who was left behind, while he himself was struggling to piece together the shreds that remained of his life after that fateful court trial?

He should have known right then that he didn't adopt young Trucy for her sake, but for his.

Phoenix didn't know if he could handle the responsibility of being a parent. Children needed a constant in their life. They needed people they could depend on unconditionally; they needed solid rocks to lean on. It seemed that each one of Trucy's rocks had been pulled out from under her, leaving her to fall. Was Phoenix strong enough to catch her before she hit the ground?

_How do you catch someone, _Phoenix wondered, _when you're_ _falling down as well?_

Maybe that was why, over the next seven years, Phoenix sometimes felt that _she_ was catching _him_, instead of the other way around.

And maybe that was what Phoenix was looking for all along. Someone to catch him when he fell. Someone who could be _his _rock, at the same time as he was theirs.


	4. Reflection

Reflection

Phoenix Wright stood in front of his bedroom mirror. It was amazing how even getting dressed for the day was now painful for him. As he pulled on his dark grey hoodie and a pair of sweats, he could only think about how he should have been dressing himself in his white shirt, red tie, and signature blue suit. Rather than admiring the sharpness of his hair and combing it to perfection, he shoved a blue knit hat on his head, flattening and concealing the spiky hair he used to be so proud of. Phoenix saw shame in this action - he could see the shame loud and clear in the dark eyes of his reflection... Eyes that were staring directly back at his own face.

In the absence of an attorney's badge to adjust, he straightened the yellow button badge that was pinned on his hat. He had found the button badge at the bottom of a cluttered desk drawer. Seeing it, Phoenix had remembered the girl that had given it to him as a parting gift, and the case he had handled with her. Phrases like "Joe Darke Killings", "blackmail", and "forged evidence" had cropped up in his mind.

Phoenix thought it was ironic that he - the attorney who had unveiled the truth behind the forgeries in the SL-9 Incident - was disbarred for using forged evidence in a court trial himself.

His reflection smirked bitterly back at him as he wondered what the Skye sisters thought of him now. He knew that more than a few of his past clients no longer held him in very high esteem. How easily opinions were swayed...

Phoenix reached into his pocket and curled his fingers around the cool Magatama that rested in it, all the while maintaining eye contact with his reflection in the mirror. A yellow button badge and a spiritually charged jewel... The only things left on his personage to remind him of who he used to be - of Phoenix Wright, ace attorney. But now, he was only Phoenix Wright, pianist.

He could see him in the mirror - the glass clearly showed Phoenix that man, the lawyer-turned-pianist. That man with the shabby clothing, the unshaven face, and the tired eyes. That man who disgraced himself, who was a cheat, a liar, a fraud. _This is you, _his reflection seemed to be saying to Phoenix. _This is Phoenix Wright. This is who you are now, who you've become._

Phoenix turned his back on the reflective glass. That man it had shown him was a lie - that man was not him. That man was nobody, that man was nothing to worry about - he should not even spare that man a thought.

That man was only the Phoenix Wright as how the rest of the world saw him, after all.


	5. Unguarded

Aww. These drabbles are getting no review love D: Maybe I shouldn't have posted the first three all at the same time.. And I guess people are sick of Ace Attorney drabble series by now (not to mention my writing was never the best xD). Too bad. I tend to write a lot of incredibly short oneshots.

So.. If anyone is here, enjoy some Ema and Lana fluff, and try to drop me a review just to help my self-esteem a little :P And feel free to give me prompts.

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><p><span>Unguarded<span>

It was past two in the morning when Lana Skye finally got home to her small apartment after another late night at the Prosecutor's office. The Skye residence was, predictably, very organized and tidy. Lana was a meticulous cleaner—or more likely just a meticulous person, period.

On her way to the washroom, Lana paused outside the door of her younger sister's bedroom. After listening for a few moments to Ema's light and even breathing—the confirmation that she was asleep—Lana surprised herself by quietly pushing open the door just a crack and slipping inside.

The younger Skye's bedroom was nearly as orderly as the rest of the apartment. Ema's various test tubes and vials were put away neatly in a rack in the corner, binders and textbooks were stacked tidily on the desk, and the books—science journals and favourite novels alike—that crowded Ema's bookshelf were arranged carefully in alphabetical order. The only things out of place were Ema's bag, lab coat and pink-tinted glasses, which were lying in disarray by the doorway, and Ema's desk lamp, which was still turned on, the only source of light in the otherwise pitch-black room.

Ema herself was lying sprawled on the small bed crammed in a corner of the bedroom, eyes closed peacefully in sleep. The fifteen-year-old was still wearing her slightly dishevelled school uniform. Lana guessed that Ema had probably just collapsed on her bed after a late night of studying without even bothering to change.

Lana frowned as Ema shivered slightly in her sleep. It was a rather chilly night. Lana's eyes drifted to the blanket that was lying in a crumpled heap on the floor at the foot of Ema's bed. She picked it up and gently laid it over her sister, whose muscles seemed to relax infinitesimally. Lana knelt down by the bed, her gaze lingering worriedly for a moment on the dark circles under the younger Skye's eyes, before travelling across Ema's sleeping face. Seeing Ema so at peace, so defenceless and vulnerable, made Lana's own face soften in response. She reached out a hand and tenderly brushed her fingers through a lock of Ema's brown hair, just like how she always used to. For a few brief, precious moments, Lana's frozen-over state had melted, if only temporarily. And then said moments ended, as they inevitably would, and Lana dropped her hand, brushing her fingers lightly across Ema's cheek in the process. The warmth of Ema's face stayed as a sort of tingling sensation in the very tips of Lana's fingers, whereas the rest of her felt frigid and cold. With a sigh, she wrapped the blanket more securely around Ema's shoulders before standing and turning for the door, switching off Ema's desk lamp on her way out. After a few fleeting minutes of closeness to her younger sister, turning her back on her again—even in the most literal sense—was nearly physically painful for Lana.

Meanwhile, Ema stirred slightly in her sleep, rolling over on the bed. Unconsciously, she curled her fingers around the blanket, clutching it closer to her chest.


	6. End of Something

**A/N: **This drabble was written in response to a prompt asking for some Phoenix/Maya friendship, something sad(ish) with Hobo!Nick. The actual drabble is exactly 100 words long this time, not including the title (according to Microsoft Word anyways.) Very short and vague - just the way I like drabbles. Although I can't say I care for all the line breaks...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Ace Attorney franchise, any of its characters, etc.

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><p><span>End of Something<span>

Aside from their even breathing and the buzz of the telephone, it was silent. There really was nothing left to say.

A soft whisper finally punctured the quiet. "I'm going to miss you, Nick..."

Phoenix's voice came out husky, rough. "I... I know." A beat. "I'll miss you just as much, you know."

_(Maybe even more...)_

Quiet again. Then –

"Yeah. I know."

He said nothing in reply. There was nothing left to say.

"...Goodbye... Nick."

"Maya..." was all he whispered before pressing the harsh red _OFF_ button of the phone, his heart heavy.

_Nothing left to say..._ Except –

_(I'm sorry.)_


End file.
